Wireless Carplay disconnects at the same place on my commute with new iPhone 13

Hi, ky4wvu,

It sounds like you've isolated a CarPlay connection issue to occurring at a specific location along your commute. There may be something in area interfering with your connection, but it could be something else (such as it disconnecting at a specific length of time versus a specific location). To help isolate this, we suggest taking a drive along another route away from the area in question, but that will have you traveling the same amount of time.

In addition to the above isolation suggestion, we also recommend using If you need help with CarPlay - Apple Support, which includes troubleshooting for CarPlay issues.

Don't hesitate to reach back out if you still need assistance.

Thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.

Have a great day.

So after going all the way to escalated support, the gentleman on the phone told me a couple things to try that finally fixed my issue with this.

obviously I tried all the basics but didn’t work, what actually did work was resetting my phone network settings and going through my location services and turning things off for everything/apps that I don’t use or need locations for. I believe the problematic app was most likely the Alexa app in the end.

for context: every time I left home about 1 minute into the drive my CarPlay cut over to my cars phone audio speaker when you are on a phone call and it only comes from the console speaker, then when I came home the same thing would happen when I was about 100ft from my house. Driving an Acura Tlx 2022 with updated software. This followed me from my 12 pro max when upgrading to the 14 pro max. I always had to push my CarPlay button and just said “no” for it to connect back to my regular speakers.

Just to add to the discussion, I also experience this issue (iPhone 13 Pro)...and noticed it always happens when certain type of cameras are installed along the street; those cameras have big antennas to communicate between them and I think (pretty sure) that causes interference with WiFi and Bluetooth connections. This happens with the two cars I've tried (Kia & BMW), same spot, same result...it disconnects and take a while to reconnect and get back to normal. It would be nice if we had access to any kind of log on the phone to check what's really going on in deeper detail or to share it with Apple so they can try to fix it.

Sounds like you need to reset the connection as it’s still using wireless to run CarPlay and only charging through the USB cable (try turning off wi-fi and Bluetooth on your phone to test). I’ve also heard using an apple only usb can make a difference but I haven’t tested that.

Not true. It could be a specific problem with a specific version of CarPlay or models of cars. Apple still is the owner of the application and it is their responsibility to work with the automotive or cellular vendors to address the issue. Specifically if it is repeatable and happening to many users.

edwina170 wrote:

I purchased wireless car play to my kia niro 2023 from Amazon for $60 same thing .It works for 2-6 min and it starting to restart and turn on again and this is annoying especially when you are on phone call than suddenly the phone call is disturbing I returned and get replacement same thing happened I have iPhone 16 pro In my option I will have to get usb and approved c cable and just connect by wire to car play

You have an interesting problem, but it has nothing to do with the subject of this thread, which is losing Bluetooth Carplay in certain geographical locations. It would be helpful if you would repost to a new thread by clicking on “Ask the Community” at the top of this page.

I have iPhone 11 and have started having the same issues in just one area I travel in. I travel multiple states and cities and it happens in just this one area. I do notice that there is a lot of electrical wires crossing the interstate in the city I travel through. It disconnects and reconnects but my screen in my car goes black and then phone projection will not work. It only started happening about a month ago and it only happens in the one area. I start anticipating it each day during my trip. I would like to find out what the issue is also.

I am facing the same exact issue. It’s not time related but place related. This happens to me at many places. One such place is in Richardson TX, when I am driving on highway 75, exactly when I pass E Campbell Rd. It’s a regular place. No overhead wires or anything. I am using iPhone 13 Pro Max on my 2023 Acura Integra. Same used to happen on 2022 Honda Civic. Both have same systems. I don’t have other models of iPhones to test this. I will try this on 2022 Audi Q3 sometime later when I get a chance.

CarPlay screen either freezes or disconnects and reconnects. When the screen freezes, audio works fine in background. Only if I turn off WiFi Bluetooth and turn back on, it reconnects again. Until that point it’s shows the same frozen screen. It’s same issue even if I don’t use use any navigation apps. Just Spotify.

I’ve had the same problem with my iPhone 15 and my Honda Accord ever since I got the car a year ago. Whenever I get close to a particular intersection I loose the connection with CarPlay. It doesn’t matter whether I’m connected with a USB cord or by Bluetooth. It’s not the cellular connection as I’m usually listening to an audiobook that’s already downloaded.

After reading through all of the comments here I tried 3 things that folks posted and it has FIXED the problem!!!!

1. In Settings on iPhone Turned off the WIFI Ask to Join
2. Turned off Personal Hotspot
3. Turned off Settings/Privacy &Security/Location Services/System Services/Network &Wireless

This site seemed to have the fix for me that worked:

https://www.redmondpie.com/fix-wireless-carplay-on-ios-16-iphone-14-heres-how/

Hello ky4wvu,

We appreciate you for participating in the Apple Support Communities.

We want to make sure you get the help needed to resolve this issue. We recommend that you contact Apple Support directly. Depending on your region, you may be able to reach them here: Get Support

Best!

Hey, I have also this problem.

I´ve noticed it happens with my iPhone 13 Pro at the same specific points in my city (Aguascalientes, MX). I haven´t noticed there are any electrical grids in any of them or something that would interfere with the connection, so I guess it must be a software issue, my brother-in-law also has it.

To add to this: for me, this issue is not limited to CarPlay. It affects my other Bluetooth devices as well. When I go for a run, the music stops at the same intersection/place that my CarPlay stops working on my commute. So it’s a Bluetooth issue probably related to location services. I may try changing some location settings and permissions to see if it affects anything

i have this issue too, it’s disconnecting when I go outside of a 100m radius from my home or enter about a 50m radius to my home. I’m quite sure it has nothing to do with WiFi connecting or something as the distance is too great for that and there are buildings blocking the signal.

I do have a Nuki doorlock that is changing status (ready to unlock and ‘away’ mode) pretty much exactly at these distances. I have the feeling that whatever the Nuki app does is interfering with CarPlay.

actually it will be easy to test this and I’ll do this on my next trip. I’ll disable all the options in settings for Nuki app.

will post results here soon

I have had several trips after disabling Background App Refresh for Nuki. In none of the trips CarPlay disconnected, I’m pretty sure this issue can be attributed to Nuki or similar apps that use some sort of geofencing.

Is there anyone with the same issue that can confirm same behavior.